Apple Cup stuff

I goofed on the Paul Wulff comment in Tuesday’s column about the Apple Cup. He actually said: Huskies bark and bite, and Cougars hunt and kill, not fight and kill, though neither is happening this year. Thanks to emailer Kyle Nash, who brought that to my attention.

Monday night I spoke to Wulff about the hunt-and-kill comment, and others that he made pertaining to his goal of wanting Washington State to be the premier program in the state.

“The whole intent behind all of it was for Cougars,” Wulff said. “I’m a true Cougar. It’s important to me in terms of the rivalry. It was never to poke a finger at Washington. All of my comments were directed toward Washington State.”

“GAMEDAY” TO INTERVIEW COUG: Emailer Dave Johnson reports that Tom Pounds, the WSU alum behind the Cougar flag’s weekly appearances on “ESPN’s College GameDay,” has been contacted and will be interviewed live on the show from his home in Albuquerque on Saturday. The show airs from 7 to 9 a.m. Johnson said it’s Pounds’ goal to have “GameDay” appear in Pullman someday.

In a USA Today story last month, Pounds said he has a network of 111 flag-waving helpers across the country, and that the flag has made more than 70 consecutive appearances behind the set manned by Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit.

PARTY WITH THE FISH: Jeff “The Fish” Aaron, afternoon drive-time host on KRKO, will host a “Crapper Bowl Party” at Sporty’s Beef-n-Brew in Everett, and a raffle will be held after the game, the winner receiving a new toilet with either a Cougar or Husky seat.

TONGUE-IN-CHEEK PETITION: Mitch Cooper, an ’88 WSU grad, has started a petition, trying to get FSN to NOT televise the Apple Cup. In the petition, Cooper writes:

“Instead, followers of both teams are encouraged to spend time with their family, friends, even strangers; or read a book, or even play their own game!”

You can find the petition here – http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/2008AppleCup

COOPER ALSO WRITES: In response to Monday’s column in which I expressed sympathy for UW players and coaches.

Says Cooper: “Isn’t this taking the ‘everyone wins/participant trophy’ mentality of bringing up kids these days a little far. Everyone here is a grown-up…players and coaches alike.

“Enough of giving everyone the warm and fuzzy about life in a competitive environment; sometimes your best just isn’t good enough and you either figure out a way to try harder –or change what you are doing professionally.

“I don’t feel sorry for these adults who are being richly rewarded with large multi-year contracts and free educations.

“I feel sorry for the people who do the day-in/day-out 9 to 5 (or better yet, those who are struggling to find work – and a livable wage) that look toward these competitions for a brief escape from their lives.

“Those are the people who decide to spend their money to put their butts in the stands, buy the gear, and generally drink the kool-aid being served to them by coaches, certain biased media, and the administration.

“In the real world, averaging a 17- to 50-point loss week after week for three months would have led to an immediate dismissal…before the third month. At least the Huskies have made an effort at appearing to be competitive.

“Sorry for the harsh tone. It’s Apple Cup week, and it’s time for a couple of teams to decide whether or not they are going to put it on the line for themselves – and for the anonymous people that look to them for a respite from the real world.”